MasterCard is breaking a multichannel, summer time "MasterCard 2009 Break in Your Jeans" campaign to encourage back-to-school shoppers to use their card to pay for their jeans, Dianna Dilworth reports. One TV spot features stars such as Marlon Brando, The Ramones and Marilyn Monroe in their jeans while a voiceover wonders if they might look better in something different. Say pleated slacks, capri pants or khaki shorts. Obviously, no. The VO concludes: "The perfect pair of jeans: Priceless." "We've had the priceless messaging for many years, and it has always been about what matters most to consumers," says ...

In one of the first experiments by a major PC maker to develop a mobile Internet device -- or MID -- Dell is said to be working on a pocket-sized device that is slightly larger than Apple's iPod Touch, Justin Scheck reports. Like the Touch, it does not have cell phone capabilities but looks to fill a niche between mobile phones and laptops. The MID would run on Google's Android software, sources who have seen early prototypes say. Dell reportedly has also been developing several Android-based smartphones that it plans to start selling later this year. Another source ...

With the constricted economy forcing consumers to pinch their travel dollars, cities, states and countries around the world are rolling out attention-getting ads and promotions to lure them to their destinations, Erin Galliher reports. And, as a rule, they are doing it very well, according to a panel of travel experts who convened to pick the 10 best campaigns in the category. An old but ongoing standby, "Virginia Is For Lovers," takes the No. 10 spot. And the lamented Paul Hogan spots for Australia, which ran from 1984 to 1990, still command the No. 4 position. "The campaign humanized ...

"Cankles are the fastest growing 'aesthetic affliction' in the United States," according to Saynotocankles.com, growing faster than "bathing suit killers" such as "muffin tops" and "saddlebags." In fact, in three years, cankles "will surpass love handles as the number one aesthetic affliction in the world." Gold's is using PR and an "intrigue" type of direct mail, according to CMO Lisa Zoellner, who hopes that "Say no to cankles," minus any overt branding, is enough to drive visitors to the Web site. "We thought this was a fun, lighthearted way to drive attention to a very serious ...

Starbucks will announce the largest food launch in its history Wednesday in ads running in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. (Asks one commentator to Emily Bryson York's story who applauds the "operational moves and message": "What coffee pipe are they smoking? The chain is staying with its tactic of long-form newspaper ads ... to support this push?") "There are few things good enough to go with Starbucks coffee," says the ad. "Luckily, we now have them all in our bakery case." Spokeswoman Lisa Passe says the launch is the result of a three-year project ...